How do you take high resolution digital panoramas? I will be using an
11 Megapixel Canon 1Ds camera. The pictures will be landscapes. I have
a good Gitzo tripod with a level and I have an Arca Swiss B1 Ballhead.
I have a spirit level to fit in my hotshoe. The images will be printed
large on my Epson 9600 printer, perhaps up to 4x6 feet.

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Clarification of Question by hdomke-ga on 18 Aug 2003 04:09 PDT

I have tried several kinds of software to do this and have decided
that doing the process manually in Photoshop 7 will assure the highest
quality (do you agree?)<p>

<b>What I am looking for here is tips on the process of setting up and
shooting.</b> For example:
How to set up the tripod? Is the flash mounted spirit level the best
way to level it? Is it critical to be level not just left and right
but up and down?<p>

What would I gain if I had a special head for shooting panoramas?<p>

Is it possible (and practical) to shoot two rows of panoramic pictures
so that I can expand vertically as well as horizontally?<p>
Thanks!
Henry

A panorama doesn't need to be level at all, it only depends on what
you're taking a picture of. You could take complete 360 degree
panoramas at all sorts of strange angles, and as long as you stay in
the same rotation, you'll always get back to where you started.
Practically speaking, leveling to the horizon will give you the most
natural panorama.

The most important part of an accurate, parallax-free panorama is that
you rotate the camera on its nodal point (the spot in the lens where
all the rays of light converge - the true optical center of your
camera).  I imagine you could buy of make a special jig for this, and
if you're doing a seriously high quality panorama, it's probably a
good idea.

Check these sites out - 
http://www.edb.utexas.edu/teachnet/QTVR/NodalPoint.htm
http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~bernardk/tutorials/360/photo/nodal.html

The problem with all panoramas made of combined images is basically
the same problem cartographers have with maps - you're trying to
define a sphere with flat planes.  The further you get from the
equator the more distorted the representation becomes.  For you, the
equator of your image is the plane you'll be rotating your camera on.
This distortion adds up to a lot of things not lining up when you try
to patch them together in Photoshop.  Even with one row of pictures,
you'll find that the tops and bottoms of the images don't line up as
well as their centers.  Of course, you can cheat just about anything
in Photoshop if you have the time, but I wouldn't recommend taking on
a second row of images.